Welcome to 1565 - Founding St. Augustine Begins
"Buenos días, Spanish leaders! Welcome to the year 1565."
Twenty-two fourth graders looked at me with a mix of curiosity and confusion.
The map of early St. Augustine had been hanging on the wall since the first day of school, our Morale Tracker was positioned where everyone could see it, and stacks of El Explorador newspapers sat ready on my desk—all part of the Spanish colonial setup I'd prepared for our first unit.
Today marked the official start of our Founding St. Augustine simulation, and they had no idea what was coming.
Becoming Spanish Colonial Leaders
After our back-to-school preparation, my students were ready to step into history. I divided them into three committees that would shape the fate of America's oldest city:
The Military Committee (8 students): Responsible for defense, security, and military actions. Their job? Keep the colony safe from threats—whether English pirates, angry French forces, or hostile encounters with Native tribes.
The Town Planning Committee (7 students): In charge of infrastructure, economy, and civilian concerns. They'd decide where to build homes, how to manage food supplies, and where to establish trade routes.
The Religious Committee (7 students): Focused on missions, Spanish culture, and spiritual matters. Their role was to maintain peace with Native peoples through respectful relationships and spread Catholicism throughout Florida.
The Role Sheet Revelation
I handed each student their Committee Role Sheet—essentially their job description for the next three weeks. The reactions were mixed.
Emma (Military Committee) looked excited: "Wait, we're in charge of keeping everyone safe?"
Marcus (Town Planning) seemed overwhelmed: "It says here we handle building things and managing supplies—that's a lot of responsibility!"
Sophia (Religious Committee) looked uncertain: "We're responsible for religion and working with other people? What if we mess up?"
Miguel looked confused: "I don't really get what this means yet."
But Alex was already strategizing: "This is going to be awesome! We get to make real decisions!"
We spent the first 15 minutes discussing the Meet Your Role questions. Each committee huddled together, figuring out their responsibilities and what actions they could take. Some students jumped right in, while others needed encouragement to participate. The committees were still learning what their jobs would be—no specific historical knowledge yet, just trying to understand their basic roles in the colony.
Our First Decision: The Wild Pig Crisis
Before diving into the full simulation, we ran the Getting Started practice scenario. I presented them with a colonial dilemma: "A wild pig wandered into the colony and ate all the corn. What should we do?"
Each committee had to look at their role sheet and choose one action that would help solve this problem.
The Military Committee chose "Stockpile weapons and supplies": "We can get weapons ready to hunt the pig and protect our food!" (Though it took some coaxing to get Riley to speak up for the group.)
Town Planning selected "Stockpile extra food, wood, or stone": "We need to gather more food to replace what we lost!" (Marcus did most of the talking while others listened.)
The Religious Committee picked "Share food or supplies with a village": "Maybe a nearby village can help us with food until we grow more!" (Sophia had to encourage some quieter committee members to share their thoughts.)
After each committee presented their solution, the class voted to implement stockpiling weapons/supplies and gathering extra food—practical actions that would help solve the immediate problem.
What I'm Already Seeing
Even on Day 1, the magic of simulation learning was evident:
Immediate Investment: Students weren't reading about colonial problems—they were solving them as Spanish leaders.
Natural Collaboration: The committee structure forced students to work together and consider their specific role before making decisions.
Problem-Solving Focus: Instead of memorizing facts, they were thinking through how different types of leaders would handle the same crisis.
Understanding Roles: They could see how their committee's expertise would be valuable to the colony's survival.
Tomorrow: The Real Challenge Begins
As we wrapped up Day 1, I could see students already thinking about their roles and responsibilities. They didn't know what challenges lay ahead, but they understood they were part of something bigger than themselves—a colony that would need all three committees working together to succeed.
Tomorrow, we'll read our first El Explorador newspaper and discover what challenges await our Spanish leaders in the New World.
The decisions they make will determine whether their St. Augustine thrives or fails.
Want to bring simulation learning to your classroom? Learn more about the Founding St. Augustine simulation and see you your students can experience history instead of just reading about it.
